Disappearing Act
by Red Swan
Summary: James finds himself intrigued by a redheaded girl he's never seen before...but every time he tries to find her, she's never there, and when he least expects it, she's standing right in front of him...
1. Who Are You?

Name: Disappearing Act

Author: Jolinar of Malkshur

Summary: James finds himself intrigued by a redheaded girl he's never seen before...but every time he tries to find her, she's never there, and when he least expects it, she's standing right in front of him. What makes it more difficult is that she refuses to tell him her name...

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all associated characters belong to J.K.Rowling and all the other companies involved. No copyright infringement is intended. This story has been written for entertainment only, and no money has changed hands. The storyline and original characters belong to the author. No part of the story or any original characters are to be used without permission of the author, nor is this story to be archived without permission of the author. 

A/N: This is not based on OotP at all...so yeah :D And uhh...you'll understand when you read, but in the first few chapters (you'll know when 'til ^^), if you see the name Lily, could you point it out to me? I think I've caught most of them (ahh, the joys of the 'find' thingy), but I still may have missed a couple...thankfully I only did it about twice...okay, maybe four times...

For the purpose of the story, Lily is a Ravenclaw. I know she's a Gryffindor, but...artistic license, eh? ;)

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Chapter One: Do We Know You?

Sirius Black leaned back in his chair, grinning insanely at his best friend. James Potter was glumly stirring a bowl of cereal, every now and then running a hand through his messy black hair, making it look even messier. He ignored Sirius' grinning, knowing that if Sirius didn't get any attention, there were two possible outcomes: one, he would stop whatever he was doing and try again later, or, in the case of talking, would just say it louder over and over until someone listened.

Sirius decided to give James some advice.

'It's not the end of the world!' he informed James, still grinning, not sounding remotely sorry for his down best friend.

'What's wrong?' a sandy haired boy with clear blue eyes asked, taking a seat at the breakfast table. 'James? Why's he upset?'

'He's feeling rejected, Remus!' Sirius looked positively delighted at the idea, and leaned back even further in his chair.

'Uh, Sirius? Remember last time you...' Remus started to say when...

'Whoa!' Sirius exclaimed as his chair toppled over backwards, landing with a loud clatter on the floor, sending Sirius sprawling. 'Stop doing that, it's not funny anymore!' Sirius sternly reprimanded his chair, shaking his head. Most of the people in the Great Hall looked across with interest as Sirius jumped to his feet, pushing his floppy black hair out of his eyes. 'It's okay, folks!' Sirius announced, grinning at everyone. He pulled his chair the right way up and sat down on it again, after giving it a stern lecture about throwing people. 

'Good job. I'm sure it'll know better than to do that again,' a voice said from behind him, and Sirius turned to look. Two girls were standing there, a girl with brown hair that formed ringlets around her face, and another with red hair. The redhead was smirking at him. 

'Well...you know...' Sirius bowed to them. 'You've gotta be tough on them. These chairs...they get ideas, you know?'

'Yeah, I know. Only the other day my chair tried to strangle me with a spoon. It was a lucky escape, I tell you,' the redhead told him, and Sirius started to grin. 'But my chair didn't try to throw me across the hall. You must have done something BAD. Remember, our chairs are our friends.' Sirius started to laugh, and people in hearing distance looked across to see what was going on. 

Even James forgot his worry (the girl he had liked for ages had told him, after one date, that she didn't really like him that much, she liked someone else) and looked up to see what was happening.

'Who are you?' Remus asked, recovering quickly. She flashed a small smile.

'What year are you in?'

'Sixth...wait...what...you can't answer a question with a question! Especially an irrelevant one!'

'Ah, well. You need to stretch the convention every now and then,' she replied. 'So, who are you, anyway?' She directed this question to Sirius, Remus and James.

'You don't know them?' a fourth year girl asked from James' left in disbelief. 'But they're practically the most well-known guys in school!' 

'Lucy,' James said warningly. 'We've been through this, you don't have to tell everybody that. Just because we're related...' Lucy stuck her tongue out at him, and he rolled his eyes at her immaturity. 'No matter how hard that is to believe sometimes.' James ignored Lucy's reply to look at the redhead, but she'd already disappeared. 'What? When did she leave?'

'Huh?'

'The redhead. The two girls that were standing there. When did they leave?' James pressed, and Sirius and Remus shrugged.

'Just before, I guess,' Sirius replied. 'Now ssh, James, I am trying to make a cornflake sandwhich.'

'Who were they?' James asked Remus, ignoring Sirius who was busy trying to make a cornflake sandwhich out of cornflakes and jam. 

'Don't know,' Sirius told him cheerily. 'Doesn't this look appetising?' James took one look at the cornflake sandwhich, and decided to never let Sirius cook at his house. Ever. 'The redhead was cool, though...you can't have chair conversations with many people. In fact, I was slightly in shock...but don't let anyone know that.' James laughed and inwardly applauded the redhead. With Sirius' slightly odd way of thinking...okay, _extremely _off-beat way of thinking...he wasn't shocked easily.

'Wouldn't dream of telling ANYONE that Sirius the Almighty was actually shocked for once...just wish I knew who by...'

'Don't worry, we'll find out,' Remus said confidently. 'Pass the juice, eh, James? And what's up?'

'Huh? Oh...nothing.' James passed the juice, and started thinking about Lauren again. Darn it.

'He was rejected, she didn't like him...' Sirius started singing, and James glared at him. 

'Quit it!'

'She thought he was better, so good bye Potter...'

'That didn't rhyme,' Remus pointed out. 'Not to mention completely off-beat.'

'I don't care if it doesn't rhyme, I'm singing and it sounds fine!' James stood up irritably.

'I'm leaving!' Sirius just grinned even wider and sang louder.

'And now you're leaving, what plan are you weaving? Oww...Remus, that was a harsh dig, I'm gonna turn you into a pig!'

***

James was walking glumly down the hallway, thinking of Lauren. Again. She was a sixth year, like him, only in Ravenclaw, whereas James was in Gryffindor. She had long, black hair, a smooth complexion and hazel coloured eyes, and James had liked her for ages. He'd spent weeks trying to work out the best way to ask her out, rejecting all of Sirius' bad advice and considering Remus'. Peter's advice, well...it had been worse than Sirius', and THAT was saying something.

Eventually, James had gotten the courage, and they'd gone to Hogsmeade together. They'd seemed to have had a good time. They'd joked and laughed, and James was under the impression nothing had gone wrong. Until two days later when Lauren sadly informed him that she liked Amos Diggory, but no hard feelings?

James, the epitomeof calmness and coolness, told her it was fine, and had saved his anger for the dorm, where he'd thrown hexes all around and yelled.

As a result, he'd had to spend hours fixing everything. Which put him in a worse mood.

'What a waste,' James muttered. 'I should've just pranked her...' But for one of the greatest pranksters in the school, his heart hadn't been fully for that idea. It was fine to prank Snape and assorted other Slytherins, or to scare the heck out the teachers, but pranking a girl for dumping him? Nuh uh. That was just low.It took James a while to explain that to Sirius, but he'd gotten it eventually. Although James thought he'd just agreed to shut him up.

James wandered along, kicking at nothing, delaying going to Charms, until he heard voices coming from the other end of the hallway. Not in the mood to talk to people, he debated whether he should hide, but realised they could already see him. With a shock James realised it was the two girls from breakfast that morning.

'Why on earth were you talking about chairs with Sirius Black?' her friend asked, laughing. 'Of all the things...'

'That just happened to be what was happening at the time, Bella,' the redhead pointed out. 

'Yeah, but...chairs. Being attacked by spoons. I worry, I really do.'

'Well, you shouldn't...hi!' The redhead noticed James and smiled in greeting. James ignored the small flip his heart did and smiled in return. The redhead's friend muttered something, then laughed. James kept his face expressionless as he walked past, ignoring the whispers. Why couldn't they just wait until he was far away without being so damned obvious? 

He hadn't even walked past them when the redhead called to him,

'Hey...hey, wait!' James rolled his eyes and looked at her properly.

'What?' He noticed that her emerald eyes were sparkling, and she seemed to be biting back a smile.

'You're friends with Sirius, aren't you?'

'Duh,' her friend muttered, and the redhead tutted.

'Hush, Bella! Tell him I'm sorry if I interrupted or anything. I...uh...are you alright?' James realised he had been staring, and shook his head to clear his mind. 'What's wrong? You looked upset this morn...'

'No, sorry, I'm fine.' The girl grinned.

'You don't seem very sure. Plus, you're very quiet today. You're never quiet.'

'How do you know?' James asked sharply, studying her eyes very carefully. The redhead waved her hands impatiently. 'I thought you didn't know us.'

'That doesn't matt...oh, okay, fine, I know who you are, you're James Potter, happy now?'

'Uh, sure.' James nearly kicked himself. He wasn't being very smooth here. _Why do I seem to go so incoherant around her?_ 'Now, I don't know who you are...who are you?'

'Weeeell...I'm a sixth year,' she told him.

'And?'

'I'm in Ravenclaw.'

'And?'

'I have to get to class.' She smiled cheerfully. 'Talk to you later!' 

'What's your name, then?' James asked her. 'You must have a name!'

'I'm late for class,' she repeated lightly. 'Don't worry about it!' James bit his lip in frustration. Why wouldn't she just tell him? 

The redhead went to walk away, then seemed to think better of it and turned back. She stepped over to him, grabbed his arm, and stood up on her tip-toes to whisper in his ear, 'Forget Lauren, she's not worth the plastic ring in a Muggle Christmas cracker.' Before James could even formulate a reply, the redhead and her friend had disppeared down the hallway. 

__

That was weird, James thought. _Damnit, why won't she tell me her name?!_

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Next chapter's all written, it should be up soon...I promise it gets better :D Please review!

Choc chip cookies and blue jelly to all!

Jolinar of Malkshur


	2. I Don't Care About the Redhead!

Disclaimer: Harry Potter (technically James Potter in this story :P ) and all associated characters belong to JK Rowling and co., not to me! I own all the original characters, which along with the story cannot be used without permission. Not that you'd WANT to, geez, but you know... :p

A/N: Sorry this took so long...it was written and everything! I promise to get the next chapter up sooner :D And I promise there's not gonna be any Voldemort or murder or anything like that...it's just total...not dark stuff...:P

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Chapter Two: I Don't Care About the Redhead!

During lunch the same day he'd met the redhead in the hallway, James was feeling considerably better. With the redhead to ponder about, and her comment concerning Lauren running through his mind, James felt nearly himself.

Nearly.

He tried searching for her at the other tables during lunch, but saw no sign of her, much to his disappointment. 

Sirius and Remus, however, had forgotten all about what had happened at breakfast, and were chatting happily about the next Quidditch match that Sirius was to commentate.

'Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw...it's gonna be GREAT!' Sirius exclaimed. 'We defeat them, we're in the running for the Cup...again! Heeheehee!'

'Damn straight!' James said, pulling out a chair. 'Don't you believe anything else!'

'Hey, James! Take a seat!' Sirius called to him cheerfully, and James paused in pulling out the chair, eyeing it suspiciously. Sirius _was _his best friend, but no one could be too careful. Especially since there hadn't been any revenge since James had slipped a fast wearing-off Veritaserum in his juice one morning, so Sirius had spent two hours answering all of James' questions...highly embarrassing. James grinned as he remembered it...ahh, the look on poor Sirius' face. Priceless!

However...James continued to study the chair carefully, trying to find the hint of a trick. But if Sirius had done it properly, James wouldn't be able to see a thing wrong with the chair.

'What's up, Prongs? Take a seat!' That did it! That and the would-be innocent smile convinced James there was something wrong with the chair, and he had the feeling he knew what it was. Looking around for something to test his theory with, he grabbed a plate and piled it with food.

'What're you doing?' Remus inquired, exchanging a glance with Sirius that James saw. Grinning inwardly, James placed the plate of food and sat it on the chair.

'Hey!' he shouted, jumping back as the chair shivered and gave an almighty leap into the air. The chair started going completely beserk, running and jumping around, sending the plate of food flying, where it hit Snape who had been attempting to walk past the psycho chair at the time. 

James and Remus nearly fell over with laughter, and Sirius had tears in his eyes as the chair bounded and leaped after Snape as he fled the Great Hall. 

'Run, Snape, run!' Sirius managed to stammer out through his laughter.

Everyone in the Hall was pointing and laughing, and it was quite a time before everyone had calmed down. However there were still bursts of laughter that could be heard every now and then as someone remembered the chair.

'Nice one,' James commented, taking a seat (from a normal chair, which he tested just in case). 'But you're gonna have to be better than that.' Sirius adopted a mysterious air.

'How do you know that's what I was gonna get you with?'

'Good job, Sirius!' A blonde haired girl collapsed into the seat next to him, her cheeks slightly flushed. 'Man, I'm starving. Pass the rolls, please.'

'Where've you been, Callie?' Sirius asked her, obediently passing the rolls, grabbing one for himself as he did so.

'Oh...you know...not here. I'm so hungry, man...we have Quidditch practice tonight, yeah?' she asked James, who nodded.

'Yep...be there or be ready to face my wrath.' Callie laughed.

'Yeah, sure James. Wrath.'

'Why does no one ever believe me?' James asked Remus, who gave him a sympathetic smile.

'You seem too...I don't know, not serious?'

'No, because...' Sirius started to say, and Callie groaned.

'Please, get a new joke already!'

'Excuse me.' Sirius looked offended. 'How do you know I wasn't going to be creative that time?'

'You never are!' Ignoring his arguing friends, James challenged Remus.

'Too not serious?'

'You're too much of a prankster, always in a good mood...except this morning,' Remus added as an afterthought. 'No one takes you seriously.' James sighed happily.

'Which is something I am eternally thankful for.' He paused, wondering whether he should ask this next question. 'So, uh, did you ever found out who that girl was?' he asked Remus, who shrugged. Sirius shook his head, holding up a hand to stop Callie talking.

'Don't argue with me, please, I know I'm right...'

'Elephants aren't green!'

'That redhead this morning? Nah, don't know who she is, why?' His eyes glittered suddenly and he leaned forward. 'Do you like her?' James scrunched up his nose and shook his head. 'You do!' Sirius crowed triumphantly.

'No, he doesn't, he likes Lauren, remem...or do you?' Remus asked James, suddenly highly interested.

'No, I don't! Like the redhead, I mean. Lauren, yeah, a little, still.'

'Who do you like?' James' fourth year cousin, Lucy, asked. 

'No one.'

'Liar! What about Lauren?'

'She rejected him.' Sirius coughed and sat up straighter. 'Ahem...' He opened his mouth to start singing, and James through a bread roll at him. 'Aargh, my spleen...noooo...I shall avenge you for this...' Sirius tried to stagger while remaining firmly in his seat, making him look extremely stupid. Callie laughed and patted him on the back.

'Oh, no! What shall we do without you? Someone, please! We need a doctor!'

'Too...late...'

'It can't be!' James gasped, hoping they'd forget all about what they had been discussing. He didn't need any jokes about the redhead, and he knew Sirius would never give it up. 'I didn't mean for this to happen! I was only trying to critically injure you! Tell me he'll be alright!' Sirius gave an almighty gasp, and collapsed off his seat backwards. 

'Noooo!' Callie howled, covering her face with her hands. She then lunged forward and grabbed James' robes. 'You killed him! I swear, I will destroy you for this! If it's the last thing I do, his death shall not go unavenged!' Remus applauded dutifully as Sirius stood up and took a bow.

'Thank you, thank you...' A few of the Gryffindors that had been sitting near them started applauding as well, and Sirius grinned. 'I'd also like to thank Callie, who played the lover, and James, who played the murderer...but sorry, Prongs, old boy, we still have to deal with what we were talking about earlier.' Sirius skidded into his seat and leaned forward. 'Not getting out of it that easily.'

'James...James, if you could stop pretending to be Sirius' murderer for a moment, Lauren rejected you?' Lucy asked, highly interested.

'Well, yeah,' James told her. 'Now can we drop it? Better yet, we can play the murder game. I'll be the murderer, you be the murderer's cousin that spoke too much and had to be silenced.' Sirius put his hand up.

'Ooh! Ooh! I'll be the boyfriend who swears he'll destroy the murderer of his girlfriend! But in the process he gets himself critically injured, and while in the hospital...'

'He meets a nurse who's a spy in disguise! And together they attempt to track down the murderer,' Remus suggested.

'Honestly!' Lucy cried. 'Did she dump you? Oh, my God, I've gotta tell...'

'Excuse me?' James grabbed her arm. 'You're telling no one, it's none of your business!'

'Only she's not just a spy for their side...she's a DOUBLE-CROSSER! Can't remember the term for it...double-spy? Whatever, she's one of those!'

'And is just luring him out of the hospital and into her trust so that she can get information from him that will tell them the location of the top-secret Super Weapon!'

'But Anne really...' Lucy persisted.

'How old is she?' James interrupted, rolling his eyes at Sirius.

'But he discovers what she's doing in time...a high speed broomstick/curse chase has to be in it at some point...and he Apparates her to where he tells her the Super Weapon is...but it's actually just a secluded place, and before he tries to get information from the other side, the murderer turns up and tries to save her!'

'And in the process he gets himself critically injured!'

'You've already used that...'

'She's fourteen,' Lucy told him, biting her lip slightly. 'She's at the other end of the table. Come on, James, she's really pretty and really nice.'

'Is she a redhead?' Sirius asked slyly, abandoning his and Remus' story for a moment. James shot him a warning look.

'You watch it. Lucy, no.' Lucy frowned.

'James!'

'No!'

'You really are an idiot!' Lucy lowered her voice. 'She really likes you, James. You'd make a great couple.'

'No,' James replied through gritted teeth. 'And that's final.'

'But...'

'Lucy!'

'Okay, okay! And no, Sirius, she's not a redhead.' Lucy looked quizzically from James to Sirius.

'Pity,' Sirius commented, popping a piece of bread into his mouth and grinning. 

'Ooh, I know! The girlfriend isn't actually dead, she faked it...SHE'S on the other side as well...'

***

'Alright, here's the final line up for Ravenclaw,' James announced to the Gryffindor Quidditch team, of which he was Captain and Chaser, that night. They were all standing on the pitch with their brooms, ready for practice.

'Who's the Seeker?' a petite fourth year girl called Serena Matthews asked. She was the Gryffindor Seeker, and a damned good one at that. She'd hardly ever missed the Snitch, and James was proud of her.

'They decided not to change,' he told Serena, checking his notes. 'Nope, still Sanders.'

'What's the full line up?' the Keeper, fifth year Tom Atkinson, asked.

'Why do you care?' Lisa Wang, also in the fifth year, asked, poking him. 'All you have to do is defend goals.'

'Well, I've gotta make sure their Chasers aren't too good!' he retorted. 'Although I'm sure with your Chaser skills they won't even get the Quaffle.' Lisa shot him a look as if unsure of whether or not he was being sardonic. James quickly jumped in before a full-scale argument broke out between them.

'Good or bad, their Chaser's are gonna shoot goals all the same. Now Serena has to know...but Sanders is a duffer, he never gets the Snitch. Pity their actual Seeker quit.'

'Yeah, that was weird,' Callie Williams commented. She was also a sixth year, a good friend to the Marauders, and Beater on the team. 'Why'd he quit, James?' 

'He was too intimidated by Serena,' he told them, and Serena snorted. 'Oh, alright, fine, he got put off by Sirius' commentary.'

'Sirius was quite vicious that day,' Lisa remembered. James grinned wickedly.

'I wonder why,' he said in a voice that would sound innocent had it not come from him.

'James! That's cheating,' Callie pointed out, a grin on her face. 'I like it!'

'Still, Ravenclaw are pretty good. Their Chasers are excellent,' Liam Walsh, the other Beater, admitted. He was the only third year on the team, and the youngest player.

'We've played them before, I'm sure we'll be fine,' Callie pointed out. 'And if they dare start winning, I'll break their noses!' She and Liam exchanged high-fives while everyone laughed.

'Alright, then,' George McCauley, the other fourth year, grinned. 'We've got this in the bag. The rest of us distract the Ravenclaw team while Callie and Liam break their noses.' The team laughed again, and Callie cheered.

'Whoo! Yeah!' 

'How could we distract them?'

'I don't know...James, how about you just fly around smiling at everyone? That'll be the girls gone...' George joked, and James laughed.

'Sure.'

'And you can fly around smiling at everyone too, George,' Lisa told him sweetly. 'That'll be the boys gone.' George tried to poke her while everyone laughed, throwing around suggestions to distract the Ravenclaw team.

'Okay, guys, owing to the fact that not one of those ideas is legal...not that that really matters, but we've gotta keep it clean...we might just start the practice,' James announced as Liam suggested they turn the Ravenclaw team into the animal that represented their house, the eagle, as it would probably make them fly better.

After the practice, James felt his team was ready for Saturday.

'Now, it's Thursday today...'

'No, really?' Callie said. 'I could've sworn it was Sunday.'

'I thought today was April, actually,' Lisa said, sounding confused. 'James, are you sure it's Thursday? I'd check your calendar if I were you.'

'You're right, I was wrong,' James told them. 'It's actually Get-Yourselves-Back-to-the-Common-Room-Before-I-Kick-You-There-Day.'

'Yeah, I knew it was that,' George agreed. 'You're a smart one, James.'

'AS I WAS SAYING!' James shouted, and they all stopped talking, grinning at him. 'Today is, as I pointed out before, Thursday. The match is on Saturday afternoon, and if I hear one duh, I am going to curse you until you beg for mercy!'

'Duh,' Callie said, and laughed. James shot her a glare, and she stopped. 'Sorry.'

'I think we're all gonna be prepared...I'd like to practice tomorrow, but Ravenclaw booked it.' He frowned. 'They booked it weeks ago, damn it!'

'They just wanna make sure they get all the practice they can get,' Tom said.

'Yeah, but we can't get too confident, guys,' James reminded them. 'The minute we're over-confident, we'll lose.'

'Alright! Nice and optimistic words from our leader!' Callie bowed down to him. 'All hail King James!'

'Can I have a pay-rise?' George asked in a shaky voice. 'See, I got kicked out of my home...'

'You're a monarch now, eh? SCANDAL! Who've you slept with? I want names, places AND dates. Oh, and what they said afterwards.'

'Scandal?'

'He's royalty, we've got to get black points against his name to bring him down.'

'Why do we want to do that?'

'Honestly...so we can take over! Insert evil laugh here.'

'Can I invade your country? We need more space. Not to mention you as a King...' Callie whistled.

'QUIT IT!'

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Again, next chapter will be up sooner!

Thanks for reading! Please review! :D

Blue jelly for all!

Jolinar of Malkshur


	3. At the Quidditch Match

Disclaimer: Harry/James Potter and all associated characters belong to J K Rowling and co., not to me. No money has changed hands, this was written for entertainment purposes only. All original characters and the storyline belong to the author, and may not be copied (like you'd WANT to! Sheesh!) without permission. May not be archived (like you'd WANT to! Sheesh!) without permission.

A/N: This is for Michele...or whatever name she's using at the moment...you never can tell...although from now she's just gonna be Shel. That's a warning, by the way. HEED IT! Aaaand...here's a plug! Check out her stories! She goes as sea_Shel123 =D and they're all Draco/Hermione. Don't knock it until you've read it! 

Just quickly, Shel, thanks for the Richard Head thing. No, really! I appreciate it! =P By the way, you owe me money for the plug. Or maybe just a turn at your new octagonal bow (Draco and Remus, HAHAHA!!)

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Chapter Three: At the Quidditch Match

James woke up early on Saturday morning to see sunlight streaming in the window. Perfect conditions. He squinted and studied his watch. Ugh. Early.

Deciding it was way too early to get up, he continued to lie in bed, staring at the shadows on the wall and wondering about the redhead. Sirius and Remus seemed to have forgotten her, but James had trouble getting her out of his mind. She was so mysterious...her refusal to tell her his name just added to the intrigue James felt about her. In his mind's eye, her emerald eyes twinkled at him merrily as she smiled.

'Forget Lauren, she's not worth the plastic ring in a Muggle Christmas cracker.' 

That was weird. Why did she say that? How did she know about Lauren and him? James certainly hadn't told anybody...only Sirius and Remus knew how long James had liked her. But suddenly Lauren seemed small and insignificant next to the redhead. She was so...James couldn't think of the word. Mysterious? Strange? Secretive? 

Not to mention extremely pretty. Beautiful, even. But it was more her secretive nature and cryptic answers that caught James' attention.

'JAMES!!' 

'WHAT?' James jumped as Sirius bounded onto the end of his bed, standing there with huge grin on his face.

'Ready to kick some Ravenclaw...oof!' A pillow came flying and hit him square in the head. 'What?!'

'We were sleeping, Sirius!' Peter whined. 

'_Were_ being the operative word,' they heard Remus call somewhat grumpily from the bed next to Sirius'.

'Oh, come on Wormtail, it's the day of the Quidditch match! I wonder if James' secret lover will be watching...gonna pull off some spectacular goals, Prongs?'

'What secret lover?' James asked, pulling his blanket up sharply so that Sirius toppled off the end of this bed. 'Oops, sorry Padfoot.' Sirius pretended to have great trouble pulling himself back up on the bed.

'It's alright...I'm okay...you don't know your secret lover, James?'

'No, he doesn't,' Remus replied, smirking in a highly un-Remus way. 'He doesn't know her name.'

'Hence the SECRET!'

'Who's name?'

'The redhead, damn it!' Sirius shouted.

'Ssh, you'll wake up the other dorms!' James warned. 'And drop the redhead thing, I'm not interested in her.'

'You so are!'

'No, I'm not!'

'I can tell, James, you're going red!'

'Damn it,' James muttered, swinging his feet over the edge of his bed. 'Well, it's not because of her, that's for damned sure.'

'Uh huh.'

'Sirius! I mean it!'

'As I said, uh huh.'

***

'Okay, remember what I said?' James gave his team the usual last minute instructions. 'Play fair, the last thing we need is to be fouled. That means we are not turning them into eagles or breaking their noses.' He shot meaningful looks at Callie and Liam, who smiled innocently back at him, twirling their bats. 'Now...good luck, guys. Serena, Ravenclaw's Chasers are good. So a quick catch of the Snitch would be good, so they don't get too far ahead.'

'Our Chasers are better,' Tom declared. 'They don't stand a chance. What's their Keeper's name?'

'Don't know, but I'm pretty sure he's not that bad to look at,' Serena commented.

'Oh, forget him,' Lisa said. 'He's going out with...'

'Okay, we ready?' James asked, interrupting, not wanting them to get too sidetracked. 

'Yes, our Monarch!' George and Callie saluted, and James bowed to them, muttering, 

'Oh, geez!'

The door in front of them opened, and the team zoomed across the pitch amongst loud cheers from the Gryffindors. 

'Aaand...here we have the Gryffindor team...Atkinson, Wang, McCauley, Potter, Williams, Walsh aaaand...Matthews!' The cheers increased in pitch as the team flew over to where Madam Nell was ready to begin the game. The Ravenclaw team were already there, dismounting their brooms.

'What was with that...name...thing?' Callie whispered to James as they lined up. 'He does it every time, he never used to.'

'Ever since Sirius and I went to that professional Quidditch match, he's always felt the need to introduce us like that,' James muttered to Callie. 'Only he doesn't know the names of the other teams, so he kinda stops there.'

'I see.'

'Captains, shake hands.' James stepped forward to shake hands with the Captain, a burly seventh year called Robert Something-or-other. James shook his hand and smiled, but Robert didn't return the smile. He merely gave James a sneer and didn't say anything. 

__

Fine, James thought. _Be like that. We'll see who sneers later, though!_

'Now, mount your brooms.' James got on his broom, ready to kick off the minute she blew the whistle. 'Ready...' She blew the whistle, and James kicked off sharply, flying steadily higher, watching as Lisa caught the Quaffle and start zooming towards their goal. He flew after her, avoiding the other team members. She threw the Quaffle at George, who in turn threw it at James. James caught it and flew, narrowly missing a Bludger.

'And Potter has the Quaffle...he's going for goal, try and block THAT! Ten points to Gryffindor!' The Gryffindors cheered as James hurled the Quaffle past the Keeper and into one of the hoops. 'And it's Ravenclaw in posession...kick it out of her hands, James! I'm kidding, I'm kidding...' James turned sharply in order to see who had the Quaffle, and nearly fell off his broom.

It was the redhead!

It took all his self control not to shout out 'YOU!' She flew extremely fast, avoiding the Gryffindors.

'What an excellent flier that girl is...in fact...I wasn't going to say ANYTHING, Professor! Put a leash on that suspicious mind of yours!' James gave an extra burst of speed and attempted to keep up with her to block her next pass.

But she'd disappeared.

'What?' James exclaiming, turning around to see where she'd gone.

'Missed me,' he heard someone call, and she suddenly appeared in front of him. The Quaffle was far away. 

'Where'd you...'

'Here's a hint: don't turn your eyes away,' she told him before flying off.

'Huh?'

'James, catch the goddamned Quaffle!' he heard Sirius shout, and James threw his hands up before it could hit him in the face. 'And Potter's in possession...' James flew fast, dodging the bludger one of the Ravenclaw Beaters sent in his direction, throwing the Quaffle at Lisa, who caught it swiftly and threw it straight to George.

'That's McCauley with the Quaffle, he seems to be trying to work out...he's throwing it to Wang...DAMN IT! Ravenclaw in possession, Merrit is passing to Dwyer...YEAH! James Potter catches the Quaffle, he passes it to...HOW DARE YOU?!' James threw the Quaffle to Lisa, and a second later a bludger zoomed past his ear, forcing him to turn upside down on his broom to avoid it. 

Heart pounding, James righted himself on his broom and tried to work out where the Quaffle was. He flew rapidly towards their end of the pitch, catching the Quaffle George threw at him, then throwing it back to Lisa who was hovering near the hoops.

'Catch it, Lisa! Now, slam it through that...another goal!' Cheers arose from the Gryffindor stands. 'Twenty points to zero, Gryffindor in the lead! Okay...Dwyer from Ravenclaw...passes to Evans...passes to...good intercept, Lisa! Wang has the...no, Ravenclaw have taken it back, and are flying towards...DEFEND IT, TOM!!' But it was the Ravenclaws' turn to cheer as Michelle Dwyer sent the Quaffle into their hoop. 'It's twenty-ten, Gryffindor still in the lead as Potter takes the Quaffle...' Just as James threw it at Lisa, the redhead suddenly zoomed into his vision and intercepted it.

'DAMN IT!' he heard Sirius shout, but James remembered the redhead's earlier words.

__

'Here's a hint: don't turn your eyes away.' 

Keeping that in mind, James kept a careful eye on her as she flew quickly away, and flew forward quickly to grab the Quaffle as she tried to pass it. As he turned to fly back to their end, he caught her grinning.

'Shouldn't have told you that,' she said laughingly. 'But the game's not over yet.' 

'No,' James said, throwing the Quaffle to George. 'No, it isn't. We haven't won yet!'

'My, someone's cocky!'

'You've gotta be,' he replied.

'No, you've gotta get the Quaffle! Beat you there!' She turned sharply and flew away, James close behind. 

'Michelle! Pass it!' the redhead shouted as her team-mate caught the red ball.

'George! Intercept! Intercept!' James shouted as Michelle threw it, realising they hadn't noticed him hovering above. George flew down and grabbed the Quaffle, throwing it to James almost immediately, who took off down the pitch.

'Yeah! Go, go, go! Show that redhead who's in charge!' Sirius shouted, having noticed her and James 'talking'. 'What? What was wrong with that, Prof...ANOTHER GOAL TO GRYFFINDOR!' James threw the Quaffle past the unsuspecting Keeper and into one of their hoops. 'That makes it thirty-ten...wait a minute...'

James looked over and saw Serena zooming down the pitch, the Ravenclaw Seeker closely behind her.

'Go, Serena!' he heard Callie yell, shooting a Bludger in the Ravenclaw Seeker's direction. 

'Watch it!' 

'James! The Quaffle!' James caught it sharply and started flying, hearing cheers for Serena and the Ravenclaw Seeker behind him, praying that she'd catch it...praying the Ravenclaw Seeker wouldn't get in first...he didn't hear anything, he flew faster towards the hoops, avoiding a Bludger, and throwing the Quaffle to Lisa.

'Come on, Lisa! DAMNIT! The Ravenclaw Keeper defends what should have been a fantastic goal, I'm sure we're all highly disappointed in his inability to see good playing when it's right in his face...what? Professor, I didn't say anything wrong! Now, if I'd said...'

'Black! Just commentate as it is! If you can't do that, I'll take the megaphone away from you!'

'...I'll be good...' The Ravenclaw Chasers were flying fast towards their end, passing the Quaffle quickly. 'Ravenclaw in possession...STOP STARING AND CATCH THE QUAFFLE, DAMNIT! It's okay, Professor, he's my friend, I can yell at him...' James only just missed the Quaffle as it zoomed past him, nearly yelling in frustration. 'And Dwyer is aiming for the goal...DEFEND IT, TOM!! Yesss! Tom Atkinson of Gryffindor catches the Quaffle, take THAT! Try and get a goal, will you? WE SHOWED YOU! Atkinson passes to...HEY!' One of the Ravenclaw Beaters had hit a Bludger full strength at Lisa, who copped it in the stomach. Madam Nell's whistle blew.

'Lisa!' James heard Callie yell. 'You...take THAT!' James heard an exclamation behind him, and Madam Nell's whistle blowing again.

'Penalty! You cannot attack a Beater if play has been paused! That was an unprovoked attack...'

'He got Lisa!' Lisa had righted herself on her broom, and was hovering in mid-air, attempting to get her breath back. 

'I don't care...penalty to Ravenclaw!' James rolled his eyes inwardly and made sure Lisa was alright.

'Not feeling dizzy?'

'No.'

'Light-headed?'

'No.'

'Seeing double? Short of breath?'

'What is this, twenty questions?'

'Have I ASKED twenty questions? Nothing's broken?'

'I'M FINE, DAD!' Lisa shouted at him, and James grinned at her before flying away. 

Sirius resumed his commentary.

'And Evans is taking the penalty...ack, Tom, defend it!' Groans came up from the Gryffindor side and cheers from the Ravenclaws as she got a goal. 'That wasn't defending it! In what warped universe was _that _defending it? But it was a mighty try from Tom, the Chaser obviously cheated...'

'BLACK!'

'What?'

'Just...commentate fairly, _please_.'

'I AM! The score stands at thirty-twenty...and our Seekers have lost sight of the Snitch! Potter in possession...Wang...McCauley...Potter...McCauley...GOAL!' George sent the Quaffle through one of the hoops, and James grinned at him.

'Good work!'

'That's forty-twenty to Gryffindor...and I think they've caught sight of the Snitch again!' James looked across to see Serena flying extremely quickly, her eyes focused on something in the distance. 

'Come on,' James muttered. 'Come on!' Her hand was stretched outward, and she suddenly pulled out of the dive, her face triumphant, something clasped in her fist. The Ravenclaw Seeker pulled up behind her, looking highly disappointed.

'I think she...YES!! Serena Matthews catches the Snitch! Gryffindor wins the match!' Sirius shouted into the megaphone, and James joined in the cheers that arose from the Gryffindor team. Cheers and shouts were coming from the Gryffindor supporters, red and gold posters, streamers and scarves waving everywhere.

'Yes!' he cheered, swapping high fives with Callie and George, who were near him. 'Excellent! Shortest match we've had all year!' The whole team flew down to where Serena was hovering and shared a team hug while the Gryffindors cheered overhead.

'Congratulations.' James turned around, and grinned at the redhead.

'I told you it wouldn't be over until we won!' She smiled.

'Very clever. You really should be a Seer with all that intellect.'

'Yeah, well, you know...'

'Well, see you around,' she said with a small wave.

'Wait a minute,' James said, stepping away from where the team were still cheering and celebrating. 'You never did tell me your first name.'

'What's in a name?' she asked airily. 'It's just a few letters put together to make shouting at someone easier.'

'Not necessarily shouting,' James replied, giving her a lop-sided grin.

'Haven't you tried to find out?' she asked him.

'Well...I can't! I mean, I practically never see the Ravenclaws...and if I look over at your table at meals, you're never there.'

'Oh, I'm there,' she told him. 'You're just not looking hard enough.'

'I don't understand!' James exclaimed. 'You're never around when I look for you, yet BAM! You're right in front of me when I least expect it!'

'It's strange, that,' she agreed. 'Maybe you just walk around expecting to never see me.'

'That's not helpful!'

'How helpful can I be?' 

'Don't turn your eyes away.' James echoed her earlier words, and she looked away, biting her lip.

'I shouldn't have told you that...but you seem nice.'

'Why shouldn't I know that?' James pressed.

'You ask a lot of questions, you know that?' she laughed, swapping her broomstick to the other hand.

'Because you never say anything straight out...they're all cryptic,' he told her, running a hand through his wind-blown hair. 'And...I'm not that good at cryptic things.' 

'But you're so smart, you...' The redhead stopped. 'Look, I have to go, but...I promise, I will see you around, and one day I will tell you...but that does depend on you.'

'What?!'

'Look...don't try and look for me, okay? I'm pretty busy, so chances are we won't meet each other.' She didn't look at him when she said this, raising her head to say, 'But...as I said earlier, you seem nice. So...just go about what you usually do...our paths have been crossing lately, they'll do it again.'

'Are you new to the team?' he asked her as she turned to leave.

'No. I've been in it since my third year,' she told him.

'Why did I never see you, then?'

'You did, you just never realised...you only notice someone if you have a reason to,' she explained. 'We could have passed for years in the halls, but you only recognise me now because I spoke to your friend the other morning at breakfast.' 

'So...'

'James!' James turned to face Sirius, who was grinning. 'Excellent, excellent...except for when you nearly got hit in the face with the Quaffle because you were too busy staring at...'

'Sirius!' James turned around to say something to the redhead, and then gaped.

She was gone.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had blue jelly the other night. At 1:00 in the morning. It was GREAT!! =D I heartily recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Choc chip biscuits and BLUE jelly (not red =P ) to all!

Jolinar of Malkshur


	4. Stop With the Disappearing Thing Already...

A/N: Oh wow. looks extremely sheepish Um. Yeah. About fanfiction. Long story short, I kinda haven't been around for...months. Computer problems (our internet and computer basically didn't work for about...months...lol), and THEN I couldn't find this story...THEN thought I should leave it because I couldn't find the next chapter (I was so not going to re-write it! No, never!) ...but then I found it and, fingers crossed, should keep it and edit and have it posted soon after this one. Ten thousand million apologies...what can I say? Year twelve...it sucks. =(

But I'm using all the spare time I get (like the ten minutes I'm stealing now) to get back on track! Honest!

A/N2: This is for Shel, who used to try and get me to write the fanfic with her in it, and I promise, it's on its way! It's just not chaptered or edited yet. It's also for Izzi, who has encouraged me to start writing again...who has encouraged my creative spirit! =P Lol.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately...I own nothing. Except the plot. Which seriously isn't worth much, considering I don't even own any of the characters IN it. Except the ones I made up. But without the ones I don't own...yeah, you get the picture =D

Chapter Four: Stop with the Disappearing Thing Already!

'You know what? It's just rude,' James announced to Sirius as he sat down abruptly in Transfiguration. 'To just disappear when you're talking to someone! And to not tell your name, and...'

'James, James, James.'

'Yes, yes, yes?' James asked exasperatedly. Sirius took a deep breath then observed James with mock solemnity.

'It is at times like these that one must wonder why you care so much.'

'I don't care.'

'Yes, you do.'

'No, I don't. Do I look like I care? No!'

'James, if you didn't care, would you harp on about it all the time?'

'Who plays the harp now?' Callie collapsed in her chair next to Sirius, running in just before Professor McGonagall. 'Phew, I was nearly late!'

'You're always nearly late,' James pointed out.

'Yeah, well...doesn't mean I like it,' she argued. 'Stupid Monday mornings...'

'Good morning, everyone,' Professor McGonagall said. 'Today we'll be having a further look at the transformation of people...as you approach your leaving year, you come to the legal age where you might consider becoming an Animagus. I am here to firmly dissuade you from that idea unless you have a reason for wanting to become one.' James and Sirius exchanged glances, trying to stop themselves laughing. Remus poked them and Peter as a warning. 'Something funny, Potter? Black?'

'No, Professor McGonagall,' they replied cheerfully, and James bit his lip to stop from smiling. When Professor McGonagall's back was turned, Sirius leaned across,

'Forget about the redhead, James. You haven't been yourself for on...'

'Mr Black!' Sirius snapped back to his seat like an elastic band and smiled angelically.

'Yes, Professor?'

'Are you concentrating?'

'Naturally!' She shook her head and frowned at him.

'Please refrain from speaking to Mr Potter in my class.'

'I wouldn't dream of it!'

James grinned as Professor McGonagall sent Sirius a death stare.

'You're walking on thin ice, mate,' James whispered to him.

'Potter!' It was his turn to smile sweetly at Professor McGonagall. Sirius noticed, and made a note on his parchment.

Monday Morning Report:

Prongs acting more like himself. Smiling innocently to get out of certain trouble. Step One of Recovery: complete.

That day, James certainly started feeling more like himself. Now he'd actually had a full conversation with the redhead, only to have her disappear again, he had started to forget about Lauren (if he was honest with himself, he hadn't really cared about her anymore, anyway) and he'd been told off by Professor McGonagall.

'Jamesy-boy, we haven't pulled any pranks for ages,' Sirius declared that night, sending paper aeroplanes magically across the room at a group of second years, who still hadn't worked out who was doing it.

'No, that's true,' James said, looking up from the idle scribbling he was doing.

'What are you doing?' Remus asked James, who had been watching Sirius' secret bombardment on the second years.

'Oh, pretending to do Potions,' James told him. 'See...if you scribble long enough you feel like you've done work, and then you can put it away without a guilty conscience.'

'It's genius,' Sirius told him, and James watched the paper plane land in a second year's hair.

'Why are you doing that?' James asked his best friend. Sirius shrugged.

'Better than what you're doing...I'm not even pretending.'

'_That's _genius!'

'Oh, my God, it's in my HAIR!' Laughter burst from the group of second years. 'How'd it get there? Oh, get it out, get it out!'

'You'd think it was a bat,' Sirius said disgustedly. 'Maybe I should aim for the sixth year girls. They at least don't scream when a paper aeroplane lands in their hair.'

'How would you know?'

'So, what are you up to?' Sirius asked Remus pointedly, leaning over and falling off his chair. 'I'm okay!' he called up to them in a muffled voice as James laughed at him.

'Sure.'

'Is this what you've been degraded to?' Remus asked Sirius as he got to his feet, offering no help whatsoever. Sirius finally clambered onto his chair and collapsed for a few seconds, hardly moving.

'Thanks for you help.' Remus shrugged.

'It's the least I could do.'

'The _very_ least,' James laughed, writing another random note onto the parchment. 'These notes will be an essay one day...don't look at me like that, they _will_ be!'

'Uh huh.' Sirius pushed his floppy fringe out of his eyes and rolled his eyes at James. 'Just give up, would ya? You're making me feel bad. And yes, this is what I've been degraded to,' he informed Remus. 'Throwing aeroplanes at people. Paper ones.'

'You don't feel remotely bad about not doing your work!' Peter accused as he joined them, collapsing onto an empty couch near James.

'Yes, I _do_,' Sirius wailed, and jumped as a paper aeroplane hit him on the side of the head. 'Who threw that?!' he demanded, jumping up dramatically and whirling around. The group of second years were giggling madly, one of them struggling to not laugh and look innocent. The whole point of which was completely ruined by her giggling comrades. 'What kind of person would throw a paper aeroplane at a sixth year trying to study?' Sirius asked them, shaking his head. 'Don't do it again!'

'You threw it at us first!' a brave second year piped up, giggling. 'We're just retaliating!'

'Did we know words like that in second year?' Peter whispered to Remus, who had pulled out his Charms homework. The latter shrugged, absorbed in what he was writing.

'I'd guess no.'

'Speak for yourself,' James said, sitting straighter. 'I knew lots of words in second year!'

'Oh, please.' Remus rolled his eyes and finally looked up. 'You did not. You were proud when you used the word sarcastic.'

'...shut up! And Sirius, would you _stop_ challenging the second years?' James asked his best friend, noticing Sirius was in the middle of an argument with one of them.

'Yeah, stop challenging us!'

'Yeah, that's _mean_!'

'You want mean?' Sirius had a gleam in his eye.

'Sirius!' Remus and James cried at the same time, both recognising the look on Sirius' face and expression in his voice. Sirius hesitated, then threw one last glare at the second years.

'Just you watch out! You messed with the wrong person!' he warned them, turning around and sitting down happily on his chair. 'I already have the prank planned! James, I'm fantastic!'

'And you wonder why Bella called you conceited?' James commented sardonically, throwing his parchment down. 'You know what else is conceited?'

'Mention the red-head and I will curse you,' Remus threatened. 'All you ever do is talk and talk and talk and talk...'

'...and talk and talk and talk...' Sirius took up the annoying chant, and James glared at both of them.

'No, I _wasn't_ going to say that!' He grinned slyly. 'But since I realise how annoying it will be for you if I _do_ mention her, I will.' He took a deep breath, but before he could speak Sirius had leapt up and shoved a pillow in his face. James struggled but his best friend had the upper hand, literally.

'Mmph...mmmph...MMPH!' With an extra hard shove, James managed to push Sirius and the pillow off him, causing both to tumble to the floor, thrashing wildly.

'James, gerroff me!' Sirius shouted, his voice muffled by the pillow. 'Oww, my arm doesn't bend that way!'

'Neither does my NECK!'

'Stop kicking me!'

'Get your foot out of my face!'

'Should we help them?' Peter asked Remus, watching the two sixth years struggle to get up and yell at each other with interest. Remus shook his head, grinning.

'Nah. This is entertaining. They could keep up like this for hours; why spoil the fun?'

'Good point.' Peter settled back to watch, deciding to discard his History of Magic homework in favour of watching James and Sirius.

'I still have bruises,' Sirius complained at breakfast the next morning, cocking his head to one side and stretching one arm experimentally. 'I hope you feel guilty.'

'Nope.' James was busy trying to decide if pumpkin juice and pineapple juice would make a good combination. 'See, you've got the sweetness of the pineapple juice, and the...uh...whatever of the pumpkin juice, which should cancel one another out and make a drink I actually like.'

'You like pumpkin juice.'

'Only because I hate pineapple juice,' James replied, sounding wise. 'Lesser of two evils. So by my figuring...'

'You're a git, James,' Callie informed him, staring at him with disgust clearly written on her face. 'I've never known anyone to talk so much about what they're doing. Just drink it and let us all forget it's even happening.'

'Hey, James!' a familiar voice called, and James inwardly rolled his eyes. How he hated having relatives at Hogwarts! Well, relative, anyway. Although he had to admit Sirius had it worse. At least Lucy wasn't a psychopathic evil Slytherin weirdo. He hoped. 'James!' Lucy appeared next to him, grinning and dragging a girl who was smiling goofily. Sirius snorted into his pumpkin juice, and Remus hastily hid behind a copy of the Daily Prophet Callie had received that morning.

'Hey, gimme that!' Callie demanded, grabbing the newspaper, the irrepressibleurge to laugh nearly taking over.

'James, this is Anne. Anne, this is my cousin, James.'

'I know!' Anne seemed breathless and at a loss of words, too busy gazing at James and smiling strangely to really say much. 'Everyone knows him!'

Oh, God, James groaned to himself, writing an internal memo to hex Lucy later.

'Hey,' he said aloud, giving Anne a half-smile that anyone else would have written off. But Anne acted as though he'd given her a bright, friendly smile and blushed bright red, starting to giggle.

Why do they always giggle?!

'Can she sit with you, James?' Lucy asked, nudging her friend to shut her up.

'Yeah, James, offer her a seat, be a gentleman!' Sirius called cheerfully, enjoying watching James squirm. James scowled angrily at Sirius, who grinned it off and took a sip of juice.

'There really isn't much room...' James' voice trailed off as Remus got to his feet.

'Well, I'm full after that breakfast! See you later, James.'

'Remus!'

'Goody!' Lucy quickly shoved Anne into the seat Remus had so helpfully vacated and grinned at them all. 'I'm sure you two will get along _great_!' And with that she disappeared down the other end of the table, smiling happily. James threw Sirius a helpless glance, but Sirius was too busy snorting into his pumpkin juice and reading the paper upside down to pay any attention.

'Hi James!' Anne repeated, bright red and giggling. 'What's it like being a sixth year? Is it fun?'

'Uh...sure, it's great.'

'I'm a fourth year! It's soooo hard. Did you like fourth year, James? I was in the second year then, you know. I thought that was so hard, but now I'm in fourth year I realise how easy second year was!' James seriously hoped Callie would choke herself on laughter...and from the sounds she was making, it sounded like she was fairly close. 'Oh, am I babbling? I always babble when I'm nervous! I'm sorry.' She giggled again. 'And I'm babbling even when apologising for babbling!'

'That's fine,' James told her quickly, in the hope that she would be quiet. 'Um, I'm sorry, but I needed to get to class early this morning...I'll see you around.' He got to his feet, and Anne looked disappointed.

'Oh, James!' Sirius cried in an exaggerated voice. 'But why?'

'I just need to,' James replied in gritted teeth, sending him a warning glance.

'Oh, James!' Callie cried, imitating Sirius. 'But why?'

'Yes, James?' James whirled around, and to his mild surprise that disappearing girl was there again, grinning at him. 'Why?'

'Don't you start,' he muttered, nearly tripping over his robes in his attempt to get away from the table quickly.

'She's rather young,' the red-head observed, peering over his shoulder as she walked backwards in front of him. 'Go for younger girls, do you?' James knew he was going red...damnit! Of all the times to get embarrassed...

'No, uh, she was set up...I mean, we were set up...I mean...' The red-head laughed and raised an eyebrow.

'Were you set up, or were _both_ of you set up, or...how can only one of you be set up?'

'Look, she's friends with my cousin, and my cousin decided we'd make a great couple, and no amount of dissuasion would tell her otherwise...ahh, there's a wall you might want to avoid.' They had reached the doorway to the Great Hall, and a quick look over her shoulder guided the red-head from a collision with the side of the doorway.

'Thanks.'

'And so she ended up sitting next to me because my friends are traitors...and I was just escaping when you turned up,' James finished, walking slowly down the hall. The red-head grinned.

'Uh huh.'

'It's true!'

'I know; I said uh huh, didn't I?'

'It was a doubtful 'uh huh'.' The red head pretended to be shocked.

'Doubtful? Me? Never!' She grinned. 'Now, I suppose I'd better let you get back to your...uh...girlfriend.' She smiled sweetly at him, then turned and ran. James followed her as she turned a corner, and watched as she leapt into a nearby classroom. James dived to follow her, but she'd disappeared in the split second it took him to jump into the classroom.

'Damnit!' He clenched his fists in annoyance, prowled the room once, then gave up and headed off to get his books for his first class, realising he was dreadfully early and still hadn't eaten a proper breakfast.

What a great way to start the day.


	5. A Day in the Life of Lily Evans

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all recognisable characters belong to J. K. Rowling.

**A/N:** Erm, okay, I'm ashamed to do this, but if you're so inclined, here's a plug: Lady Snowmoon, Ulterior Motives. Okay, normally I would never promote my own fics, but it's co-written, and…yeah. :smiles nervously at co-author: And if I mention it, hopefully she'll be nice to me!

Not that she already _isn't_…

Anyway, when we search we generally can't find it why do you forsake us so?), so I'll put _Lady Snowmoon_ on my favourites list (oh, the shame!). Not that I'm saying you _have_ to go read it! You won't be hurt if you don't. P

On with the chapter we go!

_Chapter Five: A Day in the Life of Lily Evans_

Lily giggled as she remembered James' look of surprise as she had disappeared from sight again. However, her giggle turned into a sigh as she felt the now-familiar twinge in her stomach.

For the first time in a while, she wished she were like other girls, and could date normally. Meet guy, like guy, flirt a little, go out, see what happens. Rather than meet guy, disappear, meet guy again, disappear, try and flirt, disappear, eventually give up, and disappear again for the grand finale.

_No, Lily_, she commanded herself. _Do not get bitter_.

But sometimes she couldn't help but wish...

_Stop it!_

Checking her watch, she sighed as she realised it was too late to go to breakfast, but too early to go to her first class. Deliberating over what to do, she tapped her foot impatiently.

Finally making up her mind, she heaved a huge sigh as she swung her book bag over her shoulder and decided to impress Professor McGonagall and turn up early to Transfiguration for once.

………………….

At lunch that day, Lily found herself turning to look at Gryffindor table, scanning and quickly finding James in his usual seat, a habit she had taken to doing at every meal-time. As she turned back and watched the people around her talk and eat, she wondered for the thousandth time why she even bothered coming to meals. Her friends were under strict instruction not to talk to her, and she wasn't even allowed to eat there. In fact, it was a miracle she was allowed to sit at the Ravenclaw table at meal-times at all. In the debate over it, Dumbledore had argued for it, claiming she needed time with school friends out of classes.

_Not that it does me any good_, Lily grumbled to herself, feeling decidedly out of spirit that day. _Can't talk or eat_.

But despite that, Lily really did appreciate the time amongst her housemates.

'Oh, and did you hear?' Lian, one of Lily's classmates, said suddenly, leaning forward conspiratorially. 'Amos Diggory is now available!' Mixed reactions greeted _that_ announcement as Lily's friends were split in opinion.

'Already?'

'Didn't he start going out with Sophie last week?'

'Who cares! He's really quite ugly. And so boastful.' Morgan made a face, clearly unimpressed.

Lily had to agree with that last point. No one bragged quite like Amos Diggory.

'He has a right to boast, seen him fly?' Lian enthused, and Morgan wrinkled her nose in distaste.

'Yes, who hasn't? But whatever, personality counts.'

_Yes, it does_, Lily silently agreed, smiling slightly to herself.

'If we're going to talk about flying, let's throw James Potter into the mix!' _That_ caught Lily's attention, and her head whipped around to look at Bonnie, who's bright eyes and gleeful expression showed too much interest for Lily's liking.

'Ooh, now _he's_ a good flyer, _and_ has a great personality to match,' Morgan commented, smiling approvingly. 'Hey Bella, your brother's in Gryffindor, right?' Bella nodded slowly, as if wondering where this line of questioning was going. 'Well...he can get us into the Gryffindor common room!'

'Morgan!' Lian exclaimed with a grin. 'You're _bad_.'

'What?' Morgan put on an innocent look. 'I'd sneak in there to have a meeting with the perfect James Potter.'

'His personality's not perfect...he could do well to not play so many tricks.' Sally swirled a spoon through her yoghurt, a disapproving look on her face.

'For God's sake, Sally!' Lian exclaimed. 'The tricks are funny!'

'Poor Snape, though,' Sally murmured. Lian tutted in disbelief.

'Poor Snape!'

'Look, I know no one likes him...'

'Because he's a creepy little greaseball,' Lian interrupted, and Lily stifled a snigger at that accurate description of Severus Snape. However, Sally frowned at Lian, clearly not agreeing.

'But that doesn't give anyone the right to prank him that badly. James Potter and Sirius Black border on cruel in what they do to Snape.'

Lily bit her lip, suddenly not liking what she was hearing. She hadn't noticed this about James.

'You don't know all of it, maybe Snape is horrible to them,' Lian argued.

'And maybe he's not.'

'Sally!' Lian exclaimed. 'You have a propensity for being fair and good to people who don't deserve it that is downright annoying sometimes!' Sally looked nettled.

'You have no proof Snape's horrible to them!'

'You have no proof he isn't!'

'Guys!' Bella practically shouted, and Lily, who was next to her, jumped slightly. Lily noted with a frown that it was the first time she'd spoken that lunch, apart from "good afternoon"s to everyone. She furrowed her brow as she wondered what was wrong. 'Can we please not argue?'

'Sorry,' Sally muttered, and Lian, fairly reluctantly, echoed it. Lily's attention was not on them, however, but was on Bella. She looked quite pale, Lily realised, and definitely not happy. Making a mental note to ask her friend what was wrong later, Lily visibly relaxed when the conversation took a decidedly more mundane turn.

'What have we got next?' Lian asked, slurping the last of her orange juice and causing Sally to look irritated. Lily smothered a snigger.

'Erm...Charms, I do believe,' Morgan replied, grimacing. 'Could be worse, though. Could be Potions.' Lian, however, looked decidedly disturbed that it was Charms.

'I haven't finished my essay!' she cried in despair, pretending to tear her hair out. 'Oh, lord, Professor Flitwick will _kill_ me,' she moaned amongst the laughter of the others.

'You _never_ do your essays for Charms!' Bella giggled, looking happier. Lian made a desperate face.

'Yes, but I _promised_ to do this one! I've only written one and a half parchments...and you know my loopy writing, it's not that much.' Amid laughter at Lian's misfortune, the Ravenclaw sixth years got up and headed to their various classes.

Amongstthe many students in the hallway Lily managed to grab Bella's arm.

'Hey,' she said, linking arms with her friend. 'What's up? Your face looks as long as Petunia's.' Bella looked like she laughed despite herself, and Lily cheered up with her.

'Don't be mean,' the former finally admonished lightly, an automatic response whenever Lily insulted her sister. Lily just smirked.

'Okay, ma,' she replied teasingly. 'Now, come on. 'Fess up. You weren't happy at lunch.' Bella sighed, the laughter in her eyes fading away. She opened her mouth to speak, when Lily was suddenly jostled sideways by some fourth year in a hurry.

'Hey, watch it!' she shouted at him angrily, and Bella pulled at Lily's arm sharply, giving her a warning look. Lily suddenly realised what she'd done, and covered her mouth with her hand. Frozen to the spot, she waited for the kid to turn around. Luckily, the kid was in such a hurry he didn't even pay any attention to her shout, and just kept running.

'Must have Potions,' Bella joked lightly, and started walking, pulling Lily's arm gently. Lily still looked slightly panicked. 'Something tells me that _you_ should watch it, missy.'

'God, that was stupid.' Lily groaned. 'But I couldn't help it; I _hate_ being pushed!' She shook her head, then turned her full attention to Bella. 'Now, you were going to tell me why you've been so glum this morning.'

'I wasn't glum, I just found out something,' Bella told her in a lower voice, but then she happened to check her watch. 'Jeepers, Lils, no wonder that kid was running...we're five minutes late!' She paused, then grabbed a piece of parchment from her pocket and shoved it into Lily's hand. 'My brother helped me. Don't ask...why, or anything,' she added at Lily's confused look. 'Just call it a hunch. But we really have to run!'

'But you haven't told me...' Lily looked disappointed as Bella started racing down the, suddenly empty, hallway, gesturing for Lily to follow.

………………….

_I know the answer to this_.

'Anyone?'

_But I'm not allowed to say._

'No one knows the answer?'

_Tra la la_.

Lily scribbled randomly on her parchment, staring out the window as she did so. It was a trick she used to do at home; putting pen to paper and letting her hand move randomly while she paid no attention to it. After a few minutes, she'd look at the scribbles on the paper and try and see images or words which were, theoretically, supposed to reflect what she was subconsciously thinking of.

After a few minutes of this, Lily looked down at her parchment, inspecting it closely for anything that made any sense.

It was with complete non-surprise that Lily noted...

Nothing.

Rolling her eyes, she resumed staring out the window, making sure she kept touching her parchment and quill.

'Not _quite_,' Professor Flitwick managed to squeak, looking nervous, his voice permeating her thoughts. 'Doesn't anybody know the exact incantation?' Lily wondered again how he'd managed to get the job. Sure, he was a good teacher, but...he seemed to get so _scared_.

No; _nervous._ Teachers weren't supposed to be nervous. Teachers were supposed to be...well, like Professor McGonagall. She remembered her first detention with Flitwick. She'd managed to confuse him so much he couldn't remember why she was there in the first place, and had let her out early.

'Well, has anybody properly read chapter eighteen?'

_Yep. Sure have._

'Well...this incantation is from that chapter. Look, I'm trying to be patient, but you've got your N.E.W.T.s next year, and this is important!' Lily nearly giggled at the squeak he nearly produced in the 'por' part of "important". It was reminiscent of a young boy's voice breaking.

Which then caused her to spend the next ten minutes imagining various professors' voices breaking.

Nearly laughing out loud at the thought of Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper's, voice breaking, Lily was disturbed from her reverie by the sound of everybody getting to their feet, chairs scraping and book bags thumping against the tables.

Desperate to know what Bella had found out, Lily leapt for her friend the minute they'd left the class. Bella was, however, talking animatedly with Bonnie, which meant Lily had to keep waiting. And waiting was not one of her strong points.

She bounced impatiently as they walked down the hall towards their next class, Ancient Runes, wondering if they'd ever stop discussing Professor Flitwick's hat, and thinking that if he didn't own a hat she'd already know what Bella had found out that morning.

_On the plus side, Bella's looking happier_, Lily thought to herself, then waited a few seconds.

_Nope, doesn't make me feel any better. Still have to know _now

'Can you imagine it with a cute little tassel bouncing around?'

_Oh, dear lord!_

………………….

'So, Lily,' Bonnie said conspiratorially, leaning forward and smirking. 'I've seen you talking to James Potter.' Lian laughed, and also leaned forward.

'I've seen that too! Lily Evans has finally found a guy worth talking to?' Lily wore a prim expression and held her nose in the air.

'Possibly.'

Laughter followed that response, and Lily grinned around at them all. The six sixth year Ravenclaw girls had congregated in the dormitory that evening, forming a circle on the floor with pillows, blankets and doonas everywhere. It was a rare occasion that the six of them could get together and just relax, without at least one of them running to Quidditch, some form of meeting, or homework.

'I can't believe it! Lily, James? Why James?' Sally asked. Lily shrugged, and threw her hands in the air.

'I don't know! All I know is that I ended up talking to his friend about...' She stopped and exchanged a glance with Bella. 'Um, Potions.'

'Potions?' Lian repeated incredulously. 'What on earth prompted you to talk about _that_?'

'Oh...you know, _everyone_ complains about Potions!'

'Lily...what did you _really_ talk about?' Morgan asked, raising an eyebrow. 'We _know_ you. It wasn't Potions.'

'Alright...alright. It may have been chairs.'

'Lily, were you ranting about the fact chairs should have five legs again?' Sally asked, looking horrified. 'I thought you'd gotten past that!'

'No!' Lily exclaimed.

'Or were you complaining about how chairs should be a more artist-friendly shape?' Bonnie guessed, and Lily looked miffed.

'I'll have you know that is _not_ what I was talking about, and that I got over that _ages _ago.'

'No, you didn't, you were complaining about it last week,' Lian told her helpfully, and Lily had the good grace to grin ruefully as everyone started laughing at her.

'Yes, okay. But...'

'Or how about your argument that...' Morgan started, and Lily threw a pillow at her to stop her.

'No! For goodness sake, I don't have that much to say about chairs!'

'You obviously do if there's something else you like to talk regarding chairs that we haven't heard already,' Lian replied, grinning wickedly.

'Well, it's bound to seem mundane after all those riveting points,' Lily told her sarcastically, 'but I merely commented when Sirius Black fell off his chair.'

'You also said chairs are our friends,' Bella supplied helpfully.

'Lily!'

'That..._may_ have come up,' she admitted. 'But it made sense in the context!'

'Lily, it's amazing how many of the things you say only ever make sense in their context,' Bonnie pointed out. 'Remembering then that the context usually only ever makes sense if you happen to be Lily.'

'Look, are you ever going to let go of that?' Lily asked in despair. 'So I shouted the answer to a question you asked me two days later in the middle of lunch! Why is that such a big deal for you?'

'Apart from blowing your cover...'

'I survived, didn't I?'

'And apart from no one having a clue why you shouted, 'Do ya think I'm sexy?' at the top of your voice...'

'That was the name of the song!'

'But other than that, it's not such a big deal for me,' Bonnie finished as there was a round of laughter at Lily's expense.

Lily pretend to pout for a few moments, then waited patiently for everyone to calm down again.

'So...you didn't answer, why James?' Sally asked, seriously. Lily made a face.

'I don't know...I really don't know. He's...he's different.'

'How?'

'I don't even know that...'

'And she's meant to be a good student? Listen to her!' Lian exclaimed, grinning so Lily would know she was kidding.

'Okay! Okay, well, he seems nice. And obviously he's good-looking. And basically isn't the prat that Amos Diggory is,' Lily replied, referring to the conversation at lunch.

'Oh, Lily! Bringing out the language!' Morgan mocked, excepting the pillow thrown at her head gracefully.

'Right, I'm going to unsubtly change the subject tooo...' Lily looked around pensively, then pounced on Lian. 'So, Lian. Sirius.'

'Lily!' Lian exclaimed amongst the laughter, embarrassed. 'There's nothing happening there!'

………………….

Later, Lily stared at the ceiling as she listened to the sound of her dormmates' breathing, stifling a giggle at the whistling sound that she knew as Bonnie's 'snoring'.

_Why James, indeed_, she thought. After pondering it a for a few moments, she turned over onto her side and wondered whether James would prove to be worth it.

Suddenly remembering the parchment Bella had handed her earlier, she leaned over the bed, feeling the familiar light-headedness as she stretched out, her hands on the floor, her upper torso stretching from the bed. Making sure her waist remained in contact with the bed, she reached out as far as possible, finally grabbing her school skirt from where she'd thrown it.

Inching backwards onto the bed proved, as usual, a bit of a difficulty; but with many silent sniggers and much self-mocking, she was finally sitting up in bed, waiting for her head to lose its woozy feeling, absently wondering whether ever being drunk would be fun.

Reaching into the pocket, Lily pulled out the scrap of parchment, brushing away the cookie crumbs it had picked up from her pocket.

_When did I put a cookie in my pocket?_ she wondered, thinking then how stupid it was. _It leaves crumbs!_

Unfolding the parchment, she studied the few words incredulously.

_No. Way!_

A smile started to spread across her face, and her heart beat a little faster at the thought of an adventure.

_No. No, it's too early._

She hesitated.

_Adveeentuuure_, the other little voice in her head whispered.

_But...you hardly know him..._

But Lily knew from the slightly increased beating of her heart and nervous, excited feeling in her stomach, which she only ever got with the promise of adventure and doing something a little daring, that she had already made up her mind.

_Thank you, Bella_.

………………….………………….………………….………………….………………….………………….…………………

A/N: I am terribly sorry for the delay in this chapter...RL seriously took over.

Also, I'm sorry that not much happens in this chapter. This was basically, as the title says, a day through Lily Evans' eyes. And don't worry, it will all be sorted in the next chapter.

Thank you for reading!


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